Mabel Edith (Wheeler) Hobbs

Mabel Edith Hobbs passed away peacefully in Maple Creek Saskatchewan on August 12, 2022 at the age of 94.

She will be remembered with much love by her 4 daughters Laurie (Melvin) Moorhead, Dixie (David) Klein, Elizabeth (Kevin) Kriwokon and Joy (Earl) Christman. Her 7 cherished grandchildren Heidi (John) Beierbach, Clay (Debbie) Moorhead, Shauna (Casey) Jones, Raymond (Nicole) Klein, Kelli (Travis) Nelson, Bonnie (Will Olson) Christman and Andrew Christman. Her 16 adored great grandchildren Sarah and Jane Beierbach, Luke, Zack and Charlotte Moorhead, Tucker and Kelly Jones, Ella, Hudson and Sylvie Klein, Caden, Caleb, Connor, Cash and Cruz Nelson and Karli Mae Olson.

She will be missed by her sister Doris Stork, sister-in-law Frances Sanderson and her good friend June Work, as well as 18 nephews and nieces and extended family.

She was predeceased by her husband Graham and her daughter Laurie Moorhead, her sister Mildred Beyko, brother Leonard Wheeler, sister-in-law Alice Wheeler, and brothers-in-law Leonard Stork and George Sanderson.

Mabel was born on the homestead in Gull Lake on June 1, 1928. She grew up in the Carmichael area in a loving family and remembered fondly her childhood riding horses, milking cows, gardening, and the many family activities and social events that occurred during the 30s and 40s.

At a young age she attended normal school in Moose Jaw and created many lifelong

friendships during that time. By the time she was 18 she was teaching school and this career spanned 7 decades as she was still teaching when she was in her 70's.

Mabel spent the summer of 1952 attending the Banff School of Fine Arts with a lifetime friend Elsie Studer and after a summer of adventures in the Rocky Mountains; she came back to the Prairies, sewed her wedding dress and married Graham Hobbs November 9, 1952.

They spent the next 35 years raising their 4 girls on the Hobbs homestead on the bench south of Piapot. The years on the bench were busy ones; Mabel combined her teaching career with many years of 4-H leadership, school activities and farm chores, including gardening with her mother-in-law Isabel. As a family we attended many community and family activities and it seemed like every Friday night or Sunday we had a yard full of family and friends or we were visiting at someone's place. Mabel and Graham took part in square dancing and helped organize and participated in several wagon trains across the Cypress Hills area. They became involved with Saskatchewan Farm Vacation and enjoyed welcoming visitors from other parts of Canada and the United States. During this time Mabel changed her career path to that of working on several pipelines which were being built in Alberta and Saskatchewan, she cooked and drove a bus full of workers to the job site for several years.

In 1987 Graham and Mabel moved their house from the bench to a new place 6 miles south of Maple Creek. Mabel continued to teach but they both enjoyed turning the acreage into their new home. They built outbuildings and planted and cared for hundreds of trees and those trees are flourishing now south of town.             Mabel sold out in 2001 and took an active role in building a house on Harrigan Street. A few years later she had a chance to buy the house that her in-laws Fred and Isabel had owned at one time on Hood Street. She rolled up her sleeves

again and went to work to renovate that house into the perfect little home for her. Along came the flood of 2010, the house was destroyed, so once again when she was 82 she took an active role in designing and making the arrangements for a new home to be moved onto her lot.

She continued with her very active schedule, bowling, exercise group, cards and Scrabble games, Farmer's Market, 21 Club, Cancer Support, Cowboy Poetry, Murrydale, Maple Creek Oldtimers, Communities in Bloom, Retired Teachers and delivering meals on wheels into her 90s. For several years she studied and attended bible study and earned the designation of Senior Solder with the Salvation Army Church. She was recognized by the Saskatchewan Government twice over the years for her volunteer work.

Mabel drove her 1998 Toyota Truck right up into May of this year and loved to go for a drive into her beloved Cypress Hills, she enjoyed having company, but she was content to go by herself as well.

Mabel was an avid gardener who loved the time she spent creating her natural wildflower garden, as well as her vegetable and raspberry patch. Her baking skills were legendary with the organizations she supported, she seldom showed up to a meeting or function without something for the bake sale or to have with a cup of coffee after a meeting. She enjoyed baking bread and cookies and always had them ready with a cup of tea when friends, family or her grandchildren or great grandchildren stopped by.

When Covid shut down her social activities, Mabel occupied herself by creating intricate quilts using fabric she had amassed over her lifetime. She completed 14 quilts without ever purchasing new fabric other than what she had collected over the years. These quilts were gifted to her children and grandchildren last Christmas.

An interest in world affairs kept Mabel up to date with current events and she never lost her ability to participate in a conversation about the recent news, family events or activities from the past. She had strong opinions about the causes that she believed in and was not afraid to voice her opinion no matter if she agreed with you or not.

"Miss me a little, but not for long, and not with your head bowed low. Remember the love that once we shared, miss me, but let me go."

The funeral service will be held at The Maple Creek United Church at noon on Wednesday August 24, a time to celebrate her life will be held following the service.

Memorial donations in Mabel's name can be made to The Laurie Moorhead Nursing Scholarship c/o Cypress Credit Union, Maple Creek Saskatchewan.

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